Irina feature on Cup of Russia coverage

Did you all see the feature on Irina Slutskaya which aired Sunday along with the Cup of Russia. I know we had a thread on this a while back, but even so I had not realized how serious, even life-threatening, her health problems were and still are. Now she has some kind of mysterious disease of the blood which the doctors believe was brought on by stress. They are projecting a recovery time of 6 months to a year. As for returning to competiton, right now they will be content just to make sure that the pain in her joints will subside enough that she can walk and move about normally.

Irina, always upbeat, talked about the two months she spent in a hospital bed with inflamation around her heart. She joked that she read all sorts of things on the Internet about herself -- "I broke my leg, I broke my neck, my heart stopped."

Irina quote: "I hope some people like me and will never forget me."

Yes, we do, and no, we won't.

Mathman

PS. The background music for this feature was the end titles to Shawshank Redemption -- Hope, against all odds. Why doesn't anyone skate to that great music?

Mathman-
I did see the feature on Irina, it brought tears to my eyes. I also didn't realize how sick she was and is. Stress can do all sorts of awful things to your body. I hope she recovers fully and is back skating again.

We like you Irina and will not forget you.

Mathman, yes I saw it, and I was very glad they showed it.

It's very sad what she has already gone through, and will in the future. Even the fact that she had to stay in a hospital room for two months, it'd be very hard on everyone, but to an athlete at her level it must've been excruciating. But I'm happy that at least now she's been diagnosed, and that she didn't lose her spirit. A few weeks ago I read an interesting study about the influence people's attitude has on their recovery (we always knew that it mattered, just not how much). The outcome of the study was somewhat unscientific, as it claimed that if you don't believe that you'll get better, and fight for it, no drugs/medical treatment will be able to help you. I'm sure there must be some desperation under the brave front she put on, but we already know she's a fighter.

We're with you, Irina. Don't you worry about us forgetting you.

Btw, here's a link to the thread at Irina's board people can post a message to her (the messages will be delivered to her):
http://pub178.ezboard.com/firinaslutskayafanforumfrm1.showMessage?topicID=2128.topic

Hope it's OK if I quote the first post with an explanation: "We'll be delivering these to Irina every week or so up till Russian Nationals in January so this thread will remain open and you can post as many messages as you want, as often as you want. It'll be easier for us to print them off from here for delivery rather than going to the separate forums."

Wow, I had no idea Irina was so sick and that fluff piece and interview with her made me cry. She is such a sweetheart and I wish for her only good things in her life and a full recovery from this illness. She is missed in skating for sure. Get well soon Irina!

{{{{{IRINA}}}}}

I hope she gets well soon. The important thing is her health, not another World title. If its meant to be, then great, if its not, its not.

Sending Irina good healthy vibes!!!!

Dee

Irina...............

How sad. Irina has many fans in the U.S. including me. Who can resist that bubbly personality and smile that just lights up her face. I've always enjoyed Irina's skating but it's her personality that I find so appealing.

We won't forget you, Irina. Put all that positive energy that you displayed in skating into your recovery.

Dizzy

I looked up vasculitis, and found the site for the Johns Hopkins Vasculitis Center. I figured this was a reputable place to start.

According to the site under What is Vasculitis?/Causes

"The causes of most vasculitides are currently unknown. It is clear, however, that the immune system plays a critical role in the tissue damage caused by vasculitis. The immune system, normally a protective organ of the body, becomes “hyperactive” in vasculitis because of some unknown stimulus, leading to inflammation within the body’s tissues. Inflammation in blood vessel walls leads to narrowing of the vessels. The resulting inadequate blood supply to a particular tissue or organ results in damage. "

I also looked up "Types of Vasculitis," and there is one called "Churg/Strauss Syndrome," which is related to asthma. While "[t]he typical patient with CSS is a middle aged individual with a history of new-onset or newly-worsened asthma, " there's nothing that precludes a younger person from getting it. Also, there are a couple of other types that are tied to the respiratory system, and one in particular, "Takayasu’s Arteritis," which strikes young women and is tied to other heart ailments, although not the one Slutskaya described in her interview. Most forms of vasculitis affect the heart and organs, including kidneys.

Here's the link to list of "Types of Vasculitis."

One of the reasons I looked this up was because the team doctor who was interviewed attributed Slutskaya's illness to stress. While stress is linked to autoimmune disease and certainly to exascerbating it, I was really annoyed that he focused on this, especially when Slutskaya spent months in the hospital with an incomplete diagnosis. I don't think for an instant that if Plushenko, Shubin, or Timchenko had Vasculitis, a team doctor would go on TV and attribute the cause to stress.

But he must be following the lead of Piseev, who, according to a translation on FSU called Volchkova a "mommy's girl" and Sokolova out-of-shape. Girls have so many problems.

Irina's condition

Thanks for the post Hockeyfan228. Interesting about Vasculitis......I wonder if perhaps this condition is hereditary. Doesn't Irina's mother have kidney failure. I wonder if the two conditions are related?

Dizzy

I have Autoimmune Vasculitis. It is a frustrating disease to diagnose, treat, and to live with. The autoimmune response can be triggered by the stress of acute or chronic illness or emotional stress. Women of childbearing age are more suseptible and about 75% of patients with autoimmune disorders are women. The American Autoimmune Related Disorders Association website is a good place to learn more.

http://www.aarda.org/

I feel uncomfortable speculating about anyone's health problems especially in a public forum. That in itself can be stress producing.

Piel

I had a rare form of it when I was 5. It was a reaction to Penicilian(sp). I spent 5 days hooked up to an IV, but Im fine now. I guess I just got lucky.

vasculitis

Is this genetic, or is it something brought on by the stress? I remember Tanja Szewczenko had to stop skating because of some similar blood disorder...

From AARDA website:

What causes autoimmunity?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The immune system normally can distinguish \"self\" from \"non-self.\" Some lymphocytes are capable of reacting against self, resulting in an autoimmune reaction. Ordinarily these lymphocytes are suppressed. Autoimmunity occurs naturally in everyone to some degree; and in most people, it does not result in diseases. Autoimmune diseases occur when there is some interruption of the usual control process, allowing lymphocytes to avoid suppression, or when there is an alteration in some body tissue so that it is no longer recognized as \"self\" and is thus attacked. The exact mechanisms causing these changes are not completely understood; but bacteria, viruses, toxins, and some drugs may play a role in triggering an autoimmune process in someone who already has a genetic (inherited) predisposition to develop such a disorder. It is theorized that the inflammation initiated by these agents, toxic or infectious, somehow provokes in the body a \"sensitization\" (autoimmune reaction) in the involved tissues.


IIRC Tanja had Epstein Barr virus. It is the virus that causes mononucleosis. Some people have chronic EBV.

The autoimmune response can be triggered by the stress of acute or chronic illness or emotional stress. Women of childbearing age are more suseptible and about 75% of patients with autoimmune disorders are women.

Click to expand...

Piel- this is so true. I also have a autoimmune disease which caused my thryoid to malfuntion and a host of other things. Autoimmune deseases are hard to diagnose and treat and a lot of doctors do not want to take the time to find out what is best for you.

I hope Irina has the best care she can get. Getting better depends on it.

My daughter has multiple sclerosis, also an autoimmune disorder. Her doctors think the autoimmune response was triggered by a Hepatitis-B vaccination she received about 18 months before the first MS symptoms appeared.

Fortunately, she doesn't have the severe form of MS and is symptom-free with weekly injections of the interferon drug Avonex.

Re: Irina's condition

dizzydi said:

Thanks for the post Hockeyfan228. I wonder if perhaps this condition is hereditary. Doesn't Irina's mother have kidney failure. I wonder if the two conditions are related?

Dizzy

Click to expand...

The Johns Hopkins site says that for Churg/Strauss Syndrome, "Genetics may play a small role in the disease, but CSS is almost never seen in two members of the same family," but that's just one form of Vasculitis, which the site describes as a series of conditions, each of which has its own profile. For example, Churg/Strauss Syndrome strikes men and women equally, while Takayasu’s Arteritis strikes young women. So without knowing which type she has, and what her mom's disease is, there's no way to know whether genetics played any part.

Thanks to HockeyFan, Piel, Dllks8fan for providing good info about vascualitis and autoimune disorders. I don't have anything to add except that I think when a doctor or someone says a problem is brought on by stress, a lot of people thngk it's somebody who just worries too much about things. This can happen, of course, but more often it's the body's response to situations or illness over which they have no control. Also, stress can be positive but demanding situations. For example, Irina came off the '02 season with a silver at the Olympics and her first World gold medal. This required her to do a lot of PR in Russian and she was quite frank about how exhausted she was in trying to get ready for her GP events and eventually dropped out. Then she was hit with the serious illness of her mother. She tried to get into training again but her body just could not respond. Having had asthma all her life it doesn't surprise me that as she gets older, more problems start to affect her.

I've love Irina from the first tme I saw her at Euros in '96. She had her own style and to me there was something so captivating and utterly honest about her style and personality. Like Piel, I don't feel comfortable speculating on someone's heatlth condition when I get the info only from the media. But I do think it's clear that her problem is serious. My heart breaks for all the problems Irina has gone through since fall '02. To me, whether you like her skating or not, she's such a bright light in the sport and I miss seeing her. I also admire her for looking ahead and having the attitude that health is the most imprtant thing and that she has to be healthy to be a good mother. In NYC, they cut off a lot of the piece to issue a weather storm warning. Couldn't they have just done a runner under the picture? They do under everything else. Anyway all my best wishes go to Irina and her family. Watching her skate both on TV and in person has given my much plesureover the years. You just wish you could do something for her.
Rgirl